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By Canadian Press

Study warns of possible health-care strain from long-COVID patients

Oct 17, 2022 | 3:15 PM

TORONTO – A new study has found that long COVID significantly increased doctor visits, home-care needs and hospitalizations for a small proportion of Ontarians infected early in the pandemic.

Researchers say that doesn’t bode well for a health-care system that was further slammed by an Omicron surge earlier this year and is now bracing for an expected fall-winter wave.

The study was published this morning in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

It looks at the health-care usage of about half-a-million Ontario residents who took PCR tests between January 2020 and April 2021.

Researchers focused on a relatively small group of Ontarians who sought COVID-19 care eight weeks or more after diagnosis.

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Their findings suggest this cohort on average spent 50 per cent more days in hospital than their counterparts who weren’t infected.

Co-author and emergency physician Candace McNaughton says she’d like to see government invest in more nurses and improved indoor ventilation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2022.

The Canadian Press